


Ab uno disce omnes (From one learn all)

by orphan_account



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: ANGO IS A BABY AND SHOULD NOT BE SHIPPED WITH CANON CHARACTERS K THNX BYE, Angus is a smart Boy, Character Study, Family Feels, Gen, Lucretia is fond of him, Not romantic at all, Spoilers from Lunar Interlude 2 through Story and Song, i mean who isn't, maybe????
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2021-01-24 14:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21339736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: How Angus went from "The boy detective who inadvertently helped retrieve the Oculus" to "The Bureau's golden boy" from Lucretia's point of view.AKAOops I adopted a son (Lucretia edition)
Relationships: Eventually - Relationship, The Director | Lucretia & Angus McDonald, background Canon Relationships - Relationship
Kudos: 7





	1. Not That Kind of Organization

When the boys first mentioned a Boy Detective she thought nothing of it. It was nothing but a passing detail. He inadvertently had helped them obtain the oculus, and even if Magnus’s tone had softened when he spoke of the boy, and Taako rolled his eyes fondly the same way he used to at some of his forgotten sister’s antics when the topic came up, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Lucretia was one step closer to obtaining all the relics, and one step closer to severing the bonds of this world. _ Whatever_ the consequences could be. She dismissed them with a coin for the Gashapon machine, and their well earned pay. As they left, talking amongst themselves of visits to Leon and Garfield, Lucretia didn’t spare the boy another thought.

When Carey had come to Lucretia with reports of a young detective, who was investigating gaps in people’s memories a flash of recognition crossed her mind, but again, she thought nothing of it. She was completely confident in Fisher’s power, and her own attention to detail. There would be nothing for the boy to find, she had almost dismissed it but noticing Davenport’s concerned expression as he stared at nothing in particular made her think twice. He had become captain of the Starblaster for a reason, and his gut instincts had gotten the crew out of more than one sticky situation in the past. His memory might’ve been all but destroyed, leaving him with nothing but his name, but she knew that look.It was the look of concern that he got every time when he thought a certain plan would have them leaving a cycle with at least one less member than they entered with, and every time without fail he was right. So she told Carey to keep an eye on the child and if he got too close to anything to bring him in. As Carey had left Davenport smiled up at Lucretia, and if she hadn’t know any better she’d have said there was a knowing glint in her Captain’s eyes. She smiled kindly back at him and went back to business as usual. Later she’d tell herself that old habits die hard, and that she’d have to stop relying on an amnesiac gnome’s gut instinct if she wanted to succeed in her plan. After all, he too had been against it from beginning.

When Killian had come to her private quarters with the report that Carey had brought the child in, Lucretia was surprised to say the least. She was already dressed, never one to make a habit of lounging in her sleepwear, so she quickly made her way to her office where Carey was standing outside by the door.

“Madame Director.” She nodded in greeting. “He seemed a little… On edge around me, I think he realized I’d been following him for a while, which to be fair is kind of impressive for a kid, I guess I underestimated him. Anyway he somehow managed to connect the gaps in memories with ‘natural disasters’ and other unexplained effects of the Grand Relics. He was getting pretty close to putting two and two together and I figured I’d bring him in.” Lucretia nodded thoughtfully. How someone, let alone a child, could make any sense of the static left behind in Fisher’s wake was impressive, truly. It was also dangerous. Who knew what effects connecting the dots could have on an non inoculated _ child’s_ mind.

“You left him in there by himself I assume?” there was no judgment in Lucretia’s voice, she had just learned it was best to get all the facts before rushing into a situation. Something she’d learned by watching Magnus make the same mistake for a century.

“Well, sort of?” Carey explained hesitantly, “Davenport came in and I _think_ he could tell that the kid was uncomfortable, so he kinda… kicked me out?” Lucretia raised an eyebrow, Killian snorted a laugh out behind her.

“Kicked you out?” Carey fidgeted under Lucretia’s gaze.

“Well as much as Davenport can I guess.” She shrugged, obviously embarrassed, her gaze landing everywhere except for Killian. “He kinda pushed- er… Nudged me out the door, and I think he sounded upset. Well as upset as you can sound when repeating one word, y’know?” Killian laughed again, only serving to further Carey’s fidgeting. Lucretia sighed, Davenport wasn’t exceptionally good with children, nor was he exceptionally bad. After all the years spent getting roped into helping Merle with proselytizing work he had had his fair share of dealing with scared children. Not that Merle had been particularly frightening to the children, Davenport had just never seen a reason to treat children as if they were lower than him. Treating them as almost mini adults, but with the gentle patience he didn’t have for actual adults.

“Thank you that’ll be all. Carey, Killian.” Lucretia nodded her dismissal and waited for the two women to start walking back down the hall before taking a breath, putting on her Madam Director persona and calmly walking in. What she saw was unexpected to say the least. When Carey had said _young_ detective, she wasn’t kidding. Lucretia had expected a fifteen year old young man, or at the very least thirteen, but was she saw was a literal _child_, ten years old max, sitting cross legged in a corner holding onto a blue book as if it was the only thing between him and certain doom, while Davenport tried to offer him a teacup.

“No thank you sir,” The child had said firmly, “I’ve already told you, I would not like any tea. What I would like is to leave immediately, sir.”

“Davenport…” Her captain said sadly. There wasn’t much to decipher in his statement this time. It was just a noise of disappointment, and while it seemed to tug on the boy’s heartstrings a bit, he held firm.

“I’m sorry sir, but everybody knows the protagonist should never accept anything from the antagonist.” The boy held on to the book tighter, and it was then Lucretia noticed the synopsis on the back,

_ Caleb Cleveland does it again! Join him on his new adventure solving the Mystery of the Missing Chalice and…_

the rest was covered by his arms but it was enough. It was endearing really that a detective clever enough to almost uncover the B.O.B’s secrets would still enjoy children’s literature such as Caleb Cleveland books. Then again, Lucretia reminded herself, he was a child and any child would be afraid of being seemingly taken hostage, no matter how clever or smart.

“While a very smart decision young man, you must know that in our case you are the antagonist in our story.” Lucretia entered the room fully, closing the door behind her. By the look on the boy’s face she had made quite the impression. She hadn’t meant to be so dramatic, but after over century of living with the Taaco twins some of that flare was bound to rub off on her, whether she realized it or not.

“Davenport?” The gnome made his way over and offered the cup to Lucretia. Normally she would make some excuse to refuse, Merle had been the one to teach Davenport how to brew tea after all, but she accepted the cup if only to put the boy’s mind at ease. After taking a sip, and doing her best not to show the disgust on her face at the bitter taste, she sat down at her desk and placed the cup down gently.

“Now, to business.” She tried to be as gentle as possible but at the way the boy curled in on himself even further it didn’t seem like she succeeded. Confidence dropping, she cleared her throat, “You’ll have to forgive our abrupt…”

“Kidnapping.” The boy supplied filled with contempt, and after a thought, “M’am.” Lucretia cleared her throat again.

“Yes well, I apologize for it seeming that way but I ensure you that was not our intention.” There was a pause, and after it became clear the boy wasn’t planing to respond Lucretia continued. “Your investigation into our actions has piqued our interest young man-”

“Angus.” The boy interrupted, “My name is Angus McDonald and you just admitted that your organization is responsible for the gaps in people’s memories. Isn’t that right M’am?” The boy, Angus, stood. He couldn’t hide the way his knees were still a bit shaky or how he still held on to the book for dear life but the look on his face was immensely proud.

“I suppose I did.”

“I knew it.” His proud expression was accompanied by a shaky grin. “When I noticed the Dragonborn woman following me I knew it had something to do with my investigations into the gaps! When I started taking regular cases again, she got careless, or as careless as an obviously high level rogue gets I suppose. I couldn’t ever get a close look at her, not if I wanted her to keep thinking I didn’t know about her, but I caught glimpses of her and the bracer on her arm! It was shiny, it’s what caught my attention in the first place! I thought, why would a rogue be wearing something that could easily draw attention to herself? _Unless..._ it was part of a uniform. Seeing as she only started following me _after_ I started investigating the memory gaps, and started backing off when I did, that must’ve meant that she was part of an organization that was responsible for all the lapses in memory!” He didn’t seem to have noticed that he had gone off on a bit of a tangent, and when he finished his knees were done shaking and the pride in his face only grew. It was endearing, and familiar.

"Daven_port_." the impressed exclamation had brought Lucretia out of her thoughts, as well as the boy back to reality it seemed. All at once Angus seemed to remember his situation, once again his grip on the book tightened and he stepped back from Lucretia, his eyes scanning the room for a way out. She noticed his eyes lingering on the the only entrance or exit to her office so for the third time she cleared her throat.

“Your deductions are very impressive Angus.”

“Thank you, M’am.” He seemed to reply on autopilot.

“Which is why I’ve brought you here to offer you a place among us.”

“You did?”

“Davenport?” Ignoring Davenport’s confused expression, Lucretia stood from her chair and walked over to Angus who shrunk back further, his eyes now glued to the door. Normally every move or action Lucretia made was calculated. They had to be, between remembering which interactions with the boys were post Inoculation and which inside jokes only she remembered and making sure to keep an eye out for a lich who knew too much, every move she made had to be carefully thought out. Which is why her next words surprised even herself.

“Why don’t we take a walk. I can show you around the campus while I explain what we do here, and you can make your decision.” Lucretia gestured to the door smiling in a way she hoped was reassuring.

“My decision, M’am?” Angus seemed to be caught between the options of booking it out of there as fast as he could and seeing this through just out of pure curiosity.

“We’re not going to force you to stay here against your will Angus. We’re not that kind of organization.”

“What kind of organization are you then?” Finally Angus had relaxed his grip on the book a bit and the tension in his shoulders dropped a fraction. Realizing that was probably the closest thing she would get to a go ahead she gestured for Angus to head towards the door, and started to explain what exactly the Bureau Of Balance did.


	2. Lunar Interlude II pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucretia remembers the importance of books in her own childhood. Angus has to wait a few days for his ol train buddies to get back. Davenport gets to keep an eye on him after Ango is caught doing some (minor) crime. Avi dupes the world's greatest detective. Killian has some bad news.

It was easy enough to get Angus on board with working for The Bureau. Of course being a part of a mysterious organization that hunted down evil enchanted items that caused destruction all over the world, and destroying them sounded amazing to most of the adults Lucretia tried to recruit, let alone a child such as Angus. Had Lucretia been offered the same opportunity at Angus's age she would’ve eagerly jumped at the idea to be a part of something so similar to all the novels she too read as a child. They weren’t exactly Caleb Cleveland but the heroines of her old books back home always managed to get out of seemingly impossible situations and save the day in the end. She would’ve given anything to have been like them. Heroic, strong, brave in the face of danger, and always very capable without needing aide from anyone else. Those books were the reason she went into the field she did. Lucretia might’ve never gotten the hang of the charismatic social skills her idols had, but she did get to adventure out into the world, documenting everything as only someone with a memory like hers could. Those books were the reason she even took the chance to apply to be a part of IPRE and the Starblaster’s maiden voyage. If it hadn’t been for the love of her very own version of Angus's Caleb Cleveland novels she would’ve been killed by the Hunger, left on a destroyed world in a destroyed dimension never to meet the most important people to her in all of her existence. That was how she justified her actions, she would never stoop to the level of The Hunger, and at the rate the Relics were destroying this world she’d eventually have to fly the Starblaster out of the plane leaving behind a world of dust and ash just the same as if the Relics hadn’t existed. She wouldn’t let that happen, and so she set out to gather the relics, so she could destroy them and sever the bonds of this latest world, all for people like Angus McDonald with his bright eyes and excitement for doing good, even if there was a small chance that severing the bonds of this world would leave it the same or even worse than The Hunger would.

As fate would have it the Tres Horny Boys, as they’d been calling themselves, were already planetside down in Goldcliff retrieving The Gaia Sash during Angus's inoculation. Lucretia told as much to the boy when he started asking questions about them and their whereabouts. He’d seemed disappointed at first but perked right back up when she offered to let him greet them in her office with her.

“They’ll be so surprised! Thank you m’am!” He had bounced a few times in his spot before running off, presumably to tell Carrey and Killian the exciting news. It still surprised Lucretia how young Angus acted sometimes. After hearing how he handled the situation on the Rockport Limited with such maturity and expertise, as well as how serious he had been when he first arrived, somehow it was difficult to think of him as the “Snot nosed brat” that Merle had described when recounting their tales retrieving the oculus, or even the description of the “Cute kid” Magnus had used. Taako’s “Dorky know-it-all” was probably the closest of the three but even that didn’t seem to encapsulate all of the boy’s personality. Of course the boys weren’t known for their descriptive skills, that was Lucretia’s strong suit, but even she couldn’t describe Angus with the succinct accuracy she prided herself in. The closest she could get was unpredictable, but that wasn’t a descriptive word Lucretia was fond of. It was lazy and it just meant she didn’t know enough about a subject or person to describe them properly. She had shared this opinion with Barry on a late night when they were both catching up on work they had slacked off on during the Beach cycle, but he had disagreed. After all Taako had once described Lup as unpredictable and who knew her better than her own brother. Nevertheless she made a mental note to get to know Angus better. If only because he seemed attached to The Boys and that fact baffled her.

The Boys were to return only a few days after angus had joined the bureau, but it seemed that those few days were far too long for Angus. At first he seemed to be content with exploring the base but there were only so many places a ten year old could explore without needing to sneak past security. Security who had quite the passive perception and had, on multipule occasions, shown up to Lucretia’s office with an only slightly ashamed Angus in tow. After the third time Angus was caught trying to sneak into the restricted area of the Fantasy Costco Lucretia had assigned Davenport to keep an eye on him. It served both as a way to keep the boy out of trouble as well as giving Lucretia time to study what little research Barry had managed to write down on bonds and their known effect on worlds and people. After all it wouldn’t do for Davenport to get curious about why Lucretia was reading books that looked like nothing but scribbled mess to him. Erasing her captain’s memories of the last century might’ve left him with nothing but his name, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of cognitive thinking or creating new memories. That was what she’d hoped anyway, even as a decade passed and Davenport didn’t seem to be any closer towards speaking anything other than his own name.

Normally on days that The Boys returned from reclaiming a relic Lucretia would get a call from Avi on her stone of far speech letting her know he’d sent a cannonball out to retrieve them and to expect them soon. Which is why she had not expected to be startled out of her work by rapid knocking at her door in the middle of the day. After composing herself and quickly putting any sensitive research materials away in hidden drawers she called out a quick,

“Come in.” To her surprise and amusement an excited Angus McDonald rushed through the door with an out of breath Davenport trailing along behind him.

“They’re on their way back ma’am!” He wasted no time with greetings or pleasantries much to Davenport’s displeasure.

"_Davenport._" he chided in a way that sounded like he was reminding the young boy to mind his manners. It didn’t deter Angus's excited bouncing or face splitting grin.

“I’m sorry ma’am. Hello ma’am, they’re on their way back!” Davenport sighed and looked over at her with an expression that reminded Lucretia far too much of all the times Taako purposefully ignored Davenport’s pointed glares to _"Be nice Taako"_ or when Magnus rushed into anything dangerous without consulting the crew. A look that was even directed at Lucretia herself in the rare moments she would contribute a scathing remark to whoever was being roasted at the moment (usually Capn’port himself), without even looking up from her book. It usually earned her high fives from the twins, a knowing look from an obviously amused Barry, and the honor of getting Merle to almost spit out his tea in surprise. It was a look of exasperation mixed with an impossible fondness. It was a look that brought back too many memories for it to be lingered on much longer.

“Is that so?” Lucretia gestured for Davenport to take a seat when he started heading for the kettle in his corner of the office. The urge to take care of her captain when he overworked himself never quite forgotten, she began the process of brewing Davenport’s favorite tea as Angus continued speaking.

“Yes ma’am! Mr. Avi sent me,” Angus suddenly straightened up as he put on the serious air he often used around officials and important people, “he told me to let you know that he sent out a ship to pick them up and that he’d send them your way as soon as they docked.” and just like that he reverted back to the youthful boy practically vibrating with excitement. “He told me that he usually comes to tell you himself, but he said I was probably faster than him,” behind Lucretia Davenport scoffed, “and that you would want to know right away!” Lucretia smiled to herself. It seemed the world’s greatest detective had just bought a white lie that was most likely meant to give Avi a moment of peace.

“Of course, thank you for your diligence Angus.” She had managed to keep the mirth out of her voice but didn’t trust herself not to give it away so Lucretia busied herself pouring two cups of perfectly brewed Oolong tea. Quickly casting a heating spell on the kettle where the rest of the tea was still brewing she let it continue steeping long enough for the delicate leaves to turn bitter. The first time she had served the Captain Oolong tea he had said something was off about it, she’d later realize he had gotten used to the bitter, burnt tea that Merle had been serving since before the rest of the crew was even chosen for the Starblaster. When she had shared it with the rest of the team (much to their dismay) they each agreed that whoever made tea would always make two extra cups of over heated, over steeped tea for the two strange old men of their family.

“Thank you ma’am, but I have to admit that I ran extra fast because I was excited.” Davenport gave her a look as she handed him his tea that conveyed his dismay at how extra fast he had to run to keep up with the boy. Once again hiding her grin behind a mask of Madame Director she opted instead for a small polite smile as she turned to give one of the better cups of tea to Angus, who accepted it and had to cease his bouncing with great difficulty so as not to spill his tea.

“Really?” Lucretia made her way back to her desk. Just as Angus was opening his mouth to speak there was a knock at the door, and Angus all but dropped his teacup with how fast he turned to answer it.

“Madam Director, may I come in?” It was Killian’s voice, Lucretia could practically feel the disappointment radiating from Angus.

“You may.” As Killian entered the room holding a thick file in her hands she noticed Angus and sent him a warm smile.

“Sorry kid, but they should be here soon.” Angus did his best to return the smile earning himself a pat on the head from Killian. Lucretia let her gaze linger on the pitiful twitch of his lips before addressing the Orc Woman.

“You needed something?” Killian nodded, she briskly walked over to Lucretia’s desk and handed her the file, she immediately opened it and started skimming the first few pages.

“I had a guy down in Goldcliff keep close eyes on this one, I had a suspicion someoneother than the girl who was directly influenced by the relic was involved and I wanted to get… Uh,” She looked over at Angus and lowered her voice, “Regulating… As soon as possible if my suspicions were right. Turns out we didn’t have to worry about it, but the point is… There was a casualty it was…” Again she glanced over at Angus who was seemingly ignoring the conversation in favor of staring at his shoes where some tea had gotten on them when he turned too fast. “Well you might just want to read the last few pages of the file.” Lucretia didn’t miss the small twitch of Angus’s lips again. This time it wasn’t a sad attempt at a smile but it did seem to be of displeasure. Lucretia noticed Killian still glancing between the file and Angus, who was discretely edging closer to the desk and trying to hide it by shifting his feet to make it look like he was just trying to get a better idea of the damage done to his shoes. Shaking her head to herself and making a mental note not to underestimate Angus’s observational skills, Lucretia turned to the last few pages. They were incredibly well organized and well written, so much so that Lucretia was about to comment on it before she noticed a sentence near the bottom of the second to last page.

_After Taako Taaco, Magnus Burnsides, and Merle Highchurch exited the building I took it upon myself to debrief with Capt. Captain Bane before finishing this report and sending it to you. Upon entering Capt. Bane’s office I discovered him lying unconscious on the floor, further inspection revealed him to be deceased. It seemed-_

The rest of the file discussed what happened after Captain was found dead and a summary of the mission overall, but Lucretia hadn’t bothered to read it. She closed the file calmly, looking over to where Angus was, which had become a considerable amount closer than when she first started reading. Without hesitation she put the file away in one of the drawers of her desk and stood from the chair.

“I’m sorry Angus,” she addressed the boy snapping him to attention. “We’ll have to postpone your reunion. I have important matters to discuss with Taako, Magnus, and Merle. You’ll have to excuse me.” It seemed like Angus was going to object, but luckily Killian interrupted.

“Hey kid. Did you get to see the race?” She put a friendly hand on his shoulder startling him slightly.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Do you know what animals the guys had as their masks?” Killian started guiding them out the door, Angus was obviously still hesitating.

“Yes, Ma’am. Magnus ha-”

“Great, Carrey was wondering, and I couldn’t say for sure. Also we’re gonna have to talk about this whole calling me ‘M’am’ crap.” Killian kept talking as she walked Angus out the door. Killian was a hunter, and Lucretia had no doubt she could name all the animal’s that the boys had used for masks, but Lucretia was grateful for the help. If Angus had objected, Lucretia would’ve had to refuse, and she wasn’t sure how kind Madame Director could be when it came down to denying the boy. Pulling out her stone of far speech to dial Avi she took out the file again and started going over it more thoroughly.

“Hey boss, tell Angus they should be touching down any minu-”

“When they arrive send them to me immediately.”

“Uh, yeah ok. I mean, uh, Yes. Yes Madame Director understood.” She hung up without another word. turning to Davenport who seemed to have sense the urgency and stood waiting at the ready for Lucretia to tell him what to do.

“Davenport, can you prepare to receive The Sash? I want this done quickly and as soon as they get here please.”

“Davenport!” He did a quick salute that made Lucretia uncomfortable to see no matter the circumstances before he ran out to do as he was told. She looked back down at the file in her hands, not bothering to sit down this time, as she continued to reread it for the second time she voiced a question that had been in her mind since Killian walked into her office. 

“Oh boys, what have you done this time?”


End file.
